Southie – We Have a Rodent Problem

The topic of this week’s editorial might make some readers cringe; maybe even lose their appetites if you’re having breakfast. That’s certainly not the intention. The purpose of touching on this subject is to cause awareness to those who may not yet have realized this growing problem of rodent infestation in South Boston and in fact much of the rest of the city as well. It is also to encourage those unaware, as well as the rest of us who are already witnessing this invasion of critters, to stand up en mass to demand the city do a heck of a lot more to combat it than they are already doing.

South Boston residents, for some time now, have been sharing their space with a wide variety of fury and winged critters. We have squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, and those adorable fuzzy little bunnies. Occasionally we’ll see an ugly but docile possum hanging around in back yards. We’ve even got a few coyotes penetrating the town’s borders.

Moakley Park is often the site of a few hundred Canadian Geese splashing around in the puddles after a heavy rainstorm. And seeing a turkey or two roaming the streets is becoming a more frequent occurrence.

Hey, a few years back, we were even visited by a White Tailed Deer that swam over from one of the Harbor Islands and had to be captured by the Environmental Police and relocated to the Blue Hills. Most locals don’t really mind having the aforementioned wild things living among us. Maybe because most of them are cute and harmless and cause no problems, they are sort of accepted. But there is absolutely nothing cute and harmless about the massive invasion of mice and yes – rats that Southie is experiencing now. The fact is, they are a danger and a health hazard. It’s never been worse and with the number of calls and messages coming into this newspaper, people are getting alarmed.

We’ve spoken to city of- ficials who say this rapidly growing problem is being caused by all the construction of new buildings and all the digging up of streets and sidewalks pretty much everywhere you look. Animal control experts agree. So, what’s the solution?

While most of us are aware that hundreds of residents are legal gun owners, please remember that discharging firearms within city limits is illegal. No shooting - please. But that old saying “The squeaky wheel gets the oil is just as true today as it ever was. People need to deluge Boston City Hall and demand action. They can be setting many more traps than they currently are and putting out more poison; particularly in the sewers where the rodents tend to dwell, make nests and reproduce and in fact everywhere; of course, taking care not to place them in areas where pets might be injured. It has to be done on a massive scale if this problem is to be eradicated. Pressure needs to be put on our elected officials who in turn need to pressure city hall to move on this.

So often in the past, officials react to serious problems AFTER someone is injured. So far, no reports that we are aware of have come in about people being bitten.

Let’s not be complacent and wait for that to happen to some child. You can make your concerns on this issue known by calling the 3-1-1 line and ask them to make a report and submit it or you can call the City of Boston’s Inspectional Services Environmental Department directly at 617-635-5353. Boston residents pay a lot of money in taxes – so many taxes and fees. Keeping our town free of rodent infestation is not an unreasonable demand. Again, this is not a pleasant issue to have to touch on in an editorial. But it’s one that needs immediate attention.

Blue Cities Are Crumbling. Pray That Boston Won’t Follow

Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Starbucks, REI, Target and so many other businesses are packing up and moving out of big cities all over America. Police officers, firefighters and other First Responders are resigning and seeking those vital career jobs elsewhere. Many residents who can afford to do so are leaving too and it’s not just the super rich it’s middle class families. Quite a few private and religious schools are also making plans on relocating or at least giving serious thought to leaving these same cities.

What do all the cities affected by this mass exodus have in common? I think we all know by now what it is. The 27 most crime ridden cities in the nation are run by liberal democrats; most are in deep blue states and the majority of them have soft on crime mayors District Attorneys propped up by Radical leftist billionaire and Democrat activist George Soros.

Once beautiful thriving cities like Seattle, Portland Oregon, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Los Angles, New York and others are becoming unlivable. People are afraid to walk the streets day or night parents fear for the lives of their children when they go to school. People are stabbed, mugged, shot, robbed and raped in ever increasing numbers because the criminals committing the crimes have no fear. As fast as the police were arresting them, liberal judges put them right back out on the street. The ‘progressive’ bail reform policies allowed violent offenders right back out the door without even having to post bail, to commit even more crimes. The DA’s refused to even prosecute many crimes. The criminals are being protected better than the innocent.

As you factor in all the above, and add to it the attempts; often successful, to cut police funding and then work hard to unconstitutionally deprive law abiding citizens their Second Amendment rights so they can at least defend themselves against this onslaught of mayhem and violence, it comes as no surprise that those who can leave these cities turning into jungles are doing so as quickly as they can.

Another major incentive for residents to flee these areas is the departure of the businesses mentioned at the beginning of this column. If people have no place to even buy the food, medicines and other necessities, they really become trapped. But when these stores can no longer afford to stay in business because they are losing money instead of making a profit, they have no choice but to close up shop. The most recent case in point was the announcement by Wal-Mart that they will be closing their four stores in Chicago. They are doing this because shoplifting and theft is so bad they are losing huge amounts of money and those doing the robbing aren’t even being punished for it, so they just keep on doing it. And it’s getting worse. The departure of the Chicago Wal-Mart stores is typical of what’s happing in other cities in other blue states.

In the case of Chicago, residents are furious with Wal-Mart for leaving. That company’s stores have been a staple to that city and literally millions of Chicago residents are dependent on them. That city’s leadership and community groups are blaming the company for causing what is sure to be a major hardship to residents who depend on those stores for groceries, clothing, household supplies and so much more. But where should the blame actually be aimed - at Wal-Mart and the other businesses that are also being driven out because of all the crime or with the voters? The reality is, primarily it’s the fault of the liberals and Democrats that run Chicago that have put soft on crime policies in place but also the voters themselves who keep voting for the same type of people.

Case in point: Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot (AKA Mayor Beetlejuice), was widely blamed for the state of crime and decay that has been plaguing that city for several years because of soft on crime and anti-police policies. Unable to stand it anymore, the voters rose up and booted her out of office in the recent election. This action gave hope and promise to bringing Chicago back to life again. But instead of electing the candidate who promised to get tough on crime and promote public safety, Paul Vallas, a moderate, the voters actually chose to elect yet another soft on crime and even more liberal and radical than Lori Lightfoot, Brandon Johnson who once advocated the defunding of the Chicago police force. It would appear that Chicago will be in the same predicament for the next four years; maybe even worse. It’s believed that seeing that the voters had the chance to put someone in office that seemed to have no intention of solving the city’s crime wave was the last straw for Wal-Mart and other businesses. They are out of there.

One of the definitions of insanity is said to be ‘to do the same things over and over and expect different results’. This would seem to be right on the mark. The people of Chicago may have lost their last chance to turn things around for their city. And if the other crime ridden American cities follow the same path, the results are sure to be the same for them. The bottom line is, the Democrat party of today is not the same party of JFK –not even close. Its policies are bringing ruin to our big cities and to our country. It needs to change course or be voted out.

Window Into The State House

Window Into The State House provides our readers a synopsis of important issues of interest, past and current, that are being proposed, debated or acted upon by the Massachusetts Legislature. Many issues that are not related to local city government services are acted upon and have a direct impact on daily life. They are tax policy, transportation infrastructure, judicial appointments, social services and health, as well as higher education. We will excerpt reports from the gavel-to-gavel coverage of House and Senate sessions by news sources focused on this important

The Life Of A Chromebook

Planned obsolescence in electronics like cell phones and laptops is more than just a headache for consumers: it’s a “triple-whammy of bad news” that’s costing taxpayers millions, packing landfills and protecting companies from corporate responsibility, says MassPIRG Executive Director Janet Domenitz. The average iPhone lasts three to five years before trade-in, according to Apple. For Chromebooks, Google puts the life expectancy at around four years.

It’s become a problem in public school districts around the nation that have relied more heavily on technology since the pandemic, a new U.S. PIRG report due out Tuesday will detail.

MassPIRG shared a few findings from the report exclusively with MASSterList including the potential to save Massachusetts schools $34 million if Google doubled the life of Chromebooks from four to eight years — assuming no additional maintenance costs, data show.

The move would also slash emissions equivalent to taking 17,000 cars off the road for a year, report author Lucas Gutterman of MassPIRG, told MASSterList. The more than 31 million Google Chromebooks sold globally in the first year of the pandemic represent approximately 8.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the report finds.

Google has the power to “lighten the load” for struggling schools paying $250 to $300 per laptop as well as cut down on toxic electron-